Internal-combustion engine



R. C. REED.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION msu FEB. 14, 1921.

Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

Attorney- [NVEIVTUH Roscoe C.Reed

U ET E Rosco o. ,REED, or SYRACUSE, NEW YoRK, .ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, or

'rwo-rrrmns r0 KATHERINE n. REED, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

' I NrE Ar-ooMEusrroN ENGINE.

Patente A r.f18, 1922.

I Application filed February 14, 1921.; Serial No. 444,877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Roscoe G. REED, a citizen of the United :States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inter-nab Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification. I

Thisinvention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines. i

Heretofore, internal combustion engines, particularlythe types employed for driving automotive vehicles, have been arranged to draw in the charges of explosive gas during one down-stroke of the pistons; then to compress the said gas during the succeeding rip-stroke of the pistons; then to explode the compressed gas for driving the pistons on the second down-stroke, and to finally scavenge the cylinders on the second lip-stroke of the pistons. In other words, there has usually been but one explosion during the interval in which the crank shaft makes 2 revolutions. It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a novel and simple piston and crank-shaft construction, by means of which the gas is drawn into the cylinders and compressed and exploded and the burned gases finally ejected during each revolution of the crankshaft, thereby effecting a saving of fuel, and materially increasing the frequency and tension of the power or driving strokes of the piston.

I attain these objects bymeans set forth in thedetailed description which follows, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a centralvertical cross-section, taken on' line 11"of Fig. 5, Figs. 2, 3, and 4c are similar sections showing the various positions of the pistons and the crank-shaft while the latter is making one complete revolution} Fig; 5 is a vertical longitudinal section takenon line 5-5 of Fig. 1;. Fig. 6 is respectively. a front and a side view of the fmain piston rod. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the auxiliary piston-rod. Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a top plan view and a side elevation of-the upper pis- 1 ton. Figs. 10' and '11 are similar views of the lower piston. And Fig. 12 is a face view of'one of the cams which effect the operation of the upper piston.

In the drawing, 2+2 represent the cylinders of an internal combustion engine, 3- 3 represent the heads {and 4'. is the substantially cylindrical crank case which is com- I nion to several cylinders and separable atr l. represents the crank shaft, and 5and 5. are the cranks for the corresponding cylinders, and which in the present case consist of wrist-pins 5 which "are disposed betweenslmilar arms 5 5 The pair of arms of each crank are provided ontheir facing surfaces with similar cam-grooves 5 the correspondingportions of said grooves being eccentric to the wrist-pins-"fi and the said grooves then extending on the opposite sides and past the crank-shaft '5, to a point diametrically opposite'said shaf 6 and 7 representthe members of a double piston, which reciprocate in the cylinders 2. "The pistons 6 are connected directly to the wrist-pins 5 by means of'the" rods 6', and the movements of-said pistons correspond to the throws of the cranks.

The lower-ends 6 of the rods 6 journal-on the wrist-pins 5 in the usual manner, whileethe'upper ends 6 of said rods are pivotally connected to the'pistons 6, by means ofwrist-pins-G".

Each piston 6 is preferably cylindrical and open at both ends, and the pins 6 are supported in similar diametrically arranged sleeves 6, whose inner ends are spaced apart piston 7 is operated by a lighter'rod 7 which is loosely-disposed between the arms 6 of the rod6. The upper end of auxiliary rod 7? is pivotally attached to the piston? by means'of a pin 7 which is supported by similar sleeves 7 as best seen in "Figs. 5, S, and 9. The lower end of the rod? is provided'with a pin '7, which projects beioo yond the opposite sides of the rod andpasseslooselythrough the slots 6 of the rod 6",1

and the opposite ends'of the pin-7 are dis posed and are movable in the cam grooves 1 5 of the arms 5.5 so thatflthe rods 7? and the pistons 7 are actuated, and'given variable movements relativelyto the movements of the pistons 6 and their rods 6, i

' by the peculiar shaped grooves 5 The caps 3' of the cylinders are provided with the usual gas inlet ports 3'; spark plugs 3 and exhaust ports All-these ports are shown conventionally in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive.

The operation of my improved engine is as follows; Referring first to Fig. 1, it may be assumed that the cylinder 2 has been charged with explosive gas, and that the said gas has been compressed into the shah low head-space 2*, and that the gas is being, ignited by the plug 3 The force of theexploding gas drives the two pistons 6 and? (which are shown together in Fig. 1)

from the position shown in Fig. 1, to the position shown in Fig. 2, which is substantially midway between the top and bottom of the. cylinder. This partial downward movement of the two pistons, which have moved as one part, rotates the crank-shaft 5 substantially one-quarter of a turn, and swings the cam-arms 55 from the vertical to the horizontal position, and during this partial down-stroke of the pistons, the pin 1 of the rod 7 traverses the grooves 5 in a quarter circle concentric to the wrist pin 5". This effects the movement of the piston 7 a distance equal to the first movement of the pistonfi. The crank-shaft continues its rotation due to the force of the explosion, and next moves from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, the latter position marking the completion of the first half of its revolution. lVhile the crank-shaft is executing the second quarter of its revolution, the free ends of the cam-arms 5"-5 are being swung upwardly towards the vertical axis of the cylinder 2. and in so doing they force the rod T and. the piston 7 upwardly from the position shown, in Fig. 2 to. that shown in Fig. 3, (which carries the piston 7 back towards the top of the cylinder). This upward movement of the piston 7 is effected by the action of the cam-grooves 5 on the pin 7, in a well-known manner. During this last 7 described upward movement of the piston 7,

the latter forces the burnt gases out through the port 3 thereby scavenging the cylinder 2, during the interval in whichthe piston 6 is moving downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3-to the bottom of the cylinder. In other words, at the instant the crank 5 completes the first half ofits revolution, the

pistons 6 and 7 are respectively the bottom and at the top of the cylinder 2. As.

thecrank 5 moves clockwise towards the three-quarters point, shown. in Fig. i, it

- drives the piston 6 upwardly to the medial 7 position, (Flg. 4:) and swings the cam-arms 60;;

5'5 into the horizontal position again. Meantime, the arms 55 acting on the pin 7 pull-the piston 7' downwardly a second time until itmeets and contacts with the upwardly movingpiston 6, (see Fig.v 4.), and.

during this last downward movement, the

piston 7 draws a fresh charge of themplosive as into cylinder 2 through the inlet 3. Then as the crank 5 continues its movement through the last quarter of its revolution, it forces both of the pistons upwardly, (as one part) from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 1. This last movement of the pistons effects the compression of the gas into the headspace 2 ready for another ignition, and'so on. By the foregoing construction, arrangement, and operation of the working parts of the engine, the piston 7 alone sucks in the charges of the explosive gas; the two pistons acting as one compresses the gas; then follows the explosion of the gas, and the exhausting of the burnt gases, all of which takes place at each revolution of the crankshaft. As the timing mechanisms for regulating the ignition and also the opening of the exhaust ports 3 are well-known, these parts have not been shown 01' described. it is understood, however, that any suitable timing mechanism may be employed in connection with my improvement.

In practice, the exhaust port 3 is opened at the end of the first quarter turn of the crank-shaft, as when the pistons reach the posltionshown in Flg. 2. This tends to relieverthe pressure of the exploded and expanding gas against the piston 7 and allows said piston to start back on its upward stroke for scavenging the cylinder. Obviously, the port 3 will be closed at the end of this upstroke of the piston 7 (see Fig. 3), and the inlet 3 will be opened for the admission of the fresh gas, which is sucked into the cylinder 2 by the second downstroke of the piston 7 (as from the position shown in Fig. 3, to that shown in Fig. 4), and then bot-h ports 3 and 3 will be closed during thc compression stroke of the pistons 6-7, while said pistons move from the position shown in Fig. 4 back to that shown in Fig. 1. Inmyv engine, the duration of the force of the explosions is shorter than in the older engines of theclass, but as the greater proportion of the explosive force is exerted during the first. half of the power stroke, the provision for an explosion, at each revolution of the crank-shaft, tends to greatly increase the yield of power during a given interval of time, and as thesuction stroke, during which the cylinders are.

clrarged with fresh gas is correspondingly shorter, less gas is consumed during each explosive period, than by the older makes of internal combustionengines.

Havin thus described mv invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is 1 1. The combination with the cylinder and the crank shaft-50f an internal combustion engine, of; apistonoperatively connected to,

the crank of said shaft, a piston disposed above and concentric to the first piston, a rod for operating the upper piston, said rod having a pin and said crank having grooves grooves adapted to receive a part carried by the auxiliary'rod for moving the uppermost s piston in unison with the lowermost piston and also in opposite directions thereto dur-' ing each revolution of said shaft and crank.

The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, of a crank-' 7 shaft, the crank of said shaft comprising a wrist-pin extending between similar spaced arms, and the said arms having endless fac-i ing cam-grooves, a piston in said cylinder operatively connected to SaId WIlSt-PID, a

piston disposed above the first piston and separable therefrom, a rod for operating the upper piston, said rod having a part which traverses said cam-grooves, adapted to move said upper piston independently of the lower piston for scavenging as well as for charging said cylinder with fresh explosive gas.

at. In an engine of the class described, the combination with the cylinders and the crank-shaft thereof, of a plurality of cranks on said shaft, each crank comprising spaced arms connected by a wrist-pin the facing surfaces of said arm having continuous camgrooves which encircle the wrist-pin and also the said shaft, a two-part piston in each cylinder, said pistons adapted to be reciprocated' together and also separately, means connected with the wrist-pin for operating one piston, and means connecting with said arms for operating the other piston.

5. In an engine of the class described, the combination with the cylinders and" the crank-shaft thereof, of a plurality of cranks on said shaft,each crank comprising spaced arms connected by a wrist-pin, the said arms having continuous cam-grooves facing each other and which surround the wrist-pin and also the said shaft, a two-part piston in each cylinder, said pistons adapted to be reciprocated together and also separately, a rod connecting one of said pistons to the corresponding wrist-pins. and an independent rod operatively connecting the other'piston with the grooved portions of said arms.

6. In an engine of the class described, the

combination with a cylinder, of a crankshaft, the crank of said shaft comprising similar arins disposed at right angles to the axis of, the shaft and projecting equi-distantly in opposite directions past said shaft,

the facing surfacesof said arms provided with; similar continuous cam-grooves, a

Wrist-pin connecting the corresponding ends of said arms, two pistons in said cylinder, said pistons disposed axially and capable of reciprocable motions independent of .each other, said pistons adapted to be reciprocated as one part during the initial and final movements of each revolution of the crank shaft, a main rod connecting one of said pistons to the wrist-pin, and a rod connect: ing the other piston with said cam-grooves whereby the said rod is reci rocated twice during each revolution of t e crank-shaft while said main rod reciprocates but once during-said revolution,

" In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. 

